The invention relates to a ski chair-lift having chairs coupled on the line to an aerial cable and equipped with enclosures that contain passengers.
Skiers and other passengers riding on present chair-lifts assume several risks. These risks include falling off chairs during transport, getting frost bitten, and falling when dismounting. Beginners regularly fall on the slick snow packed landing ramp. They are often injured or embarrassed. Some are unable to safely dismount after many attempts. People that fall on the exit ramp cause problems for others as well. Falling beginners may pull co-passengers down with them. Other skiers may crash into fallen people on the exit ramp. Lift operators that intervene to xe2x80x9cmake a savexe2x80x9d may be injured by lifting people, having a slip-and-fall accidents, or by being run into by others. When some falls, the operator may have to stop the lift. Stopped lifts causes time delays for people in route, and for those waiting in the lift-line.
Prior art automatic enclosures on chairs
The relevant prior art concerns devices that assist passengers with riding on ski chair-lifts. Several prior art devices (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,556,014 by Rudkin (1969); 4,303,016 by Tauzin (1981); and 4,784,065 by Brochand (1988)) have automatic swing-back enclosures, capable of occupying a lowered position protecting the passengers sitting on the chair, and an open position for passengers to mount and dismount from the chair. These automatic enclosures swing up and back over the heads of passengers. These chairs provide no mechanism to assist less experienced passengers with dismounting onto the slippery snow surface. They are designed to be used by accomplished chair-lift riders. Thus, beginner skiers regularly fall.
Manually operated safety-bar enclosures
Most chair lifts provide manually operated enclosures, sometimes called xe2x80x9csafety-barsxe2x80x9d. The enclosures are cage-like with a crossbar in front. These safety-bars swing up and back with similar pivotal mechanics as shown in the prior art above. Users rotate the crossbars up and back over their heads prior to unloading. Like prior art above, the safety-bar enclosures are attached by pivotal mounts on the rear or sides of the chair. To contain skiers after loading, passengers pull the crossbar down from above and behind their heads. However, as one passenger lowers the bar, the crossbar may accidentally hit another passenger in the head (if that passenger is leaning forward) as it comes down from above and behind. It is necessary for all passengers to lean forward in order to balance while sitting down. Many safety-bars are xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shaped. They run across the front of passengers and bend 90xc2x0 at each side to run directly above and parallel with the arm rests. The sides of these xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shaped safety-bars rest on both of the chair""s arm-rests when the safety-bar is closed. Accordingly, if one""s arm is on the arm rest when the safety-bar is closed, a skiers"" arm may be caught between the safety-bar and the arm-rest. To prevent these accidents when closing the safety-bar, passengers must learn to sit up straight with their arms at their sides after mounting the chair. If used correctly, safety-bars help passengers to be transported safely. Yet, many novices fail to pull the crossbar down during transport, or to raise the crossbar in time for unloading. The lift must be stopped if the crossbar is not raised for dismounting. Accordingly, to avoid delays, many ski resorts have no safety-bars on their beginner lifts. Because the existence of safety-bars does not guarantee a safe transport, some resorts choose not to call them safety-bars. Additionally, prior art enclosures on ski chair-lifts do not provide a mechanism to help passengers dismount without falling. Many chair lift related injuries occur when people fall from chairs during transport or fall on the landing platform during dismount.
An automatic locking and unlocking crossbar on a ski chair-lift for containing seated passengers, and for facilitating dismounting passengers. To contain passengers, a vertically elongated bar, suspends a horizontal crossbar in a locked position in front of seated passengers. The vertically elongated bar is pivotably mounted near its top to an aerial chair""s suspension bar. At the exit terminal, the crossbar is levered forward and upward away from the front of the chair. To facilitate dismounting, passengers may grasp the crossbar to assist them with standing. The crossbar is levered forward and upward by the impact of a blocking structure against the top of the elongated bar (above its pivotal mount).
Objects and Advantages
Accordingly, the objects and advantages of this automatic crossbar are as follows:
(a) to provide an open crossbar to allow passengers to mount;
(b) to permit mounting and dismounting at top, bottom, and mid-station platforms;
(c) to gradually close the crossbar after the chair is mounted;
(d) to provide an automatic crossbar that locks closed;
(e) to allow it to be unlocked by someone from the ground during an emergency;
(f) to provide a fail-safe brake-away system to force the lock open if it fails, so as to not damage the lock or endanger passengers;
(g) to protect passengers from falling, or jumping, out of a lift prematurely;
(h) to prevent users from falling or crashing into each other when dismounting;
(i) to provide safety for passengers that forget, or are unable, to close a crossbar;
(j) to provide passengers with increased sense of being contained and safe;
(k) to function in various weather conditions, including during snow and ice storms;
(l) to protect the components from excessive wear;
(m) to provide passenger with balancing assistance for standing when dismounting;
(n) to reduce time delays and injuries related to the falling of dismounting passengers;
(o) to allow the crossbar to shut and contain passengers without hitting the top of a passengers head or catching a passenger""s arm between the safety-bar and the arm rest;
(p) to provide snowboarders with increased balance to set in their rear boot while dismounting.
Further objects and advantages will become apparent from consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.